Research and Planning – Nearly time go!

The countdown has begun to my latest Road Trip. I came across some curve balls during the final details and did get a result due to a change in my flight confirmation. 

The itinerary is busy but I can’t stress enough, the importance of planning and research to manage your expectations. Obviously in this day and age results are not far from your fingertips. 

Firstly I received an email from British Airways who were to fly me on an American Airlines code share to Chicago. For whatever reason they contacted me to advise me that the route is going to use the equipment of Belgium Airlines because their equipment is being used on another route. If you were booked in First Class you were invited to downgrade or cancel and in Premium Economy they assured you that the service wasn’t affected by the change. If you were not happy with the change then they offered a change to another route or airline on the same day. If you were in Economy hard luck. 

I was miffed that American were using BA in the first place because I couldn’t select a seat without a charge between £48 – £72 but this change allowed me to take the slightly earlier AA flight and get a seat of my choice. Great result.

I am meeting up with my daughter at the car rental facility at Chicago O’Hare and then heading to Moline, IL for the night. There will be a fair amount of driving and the best value rental was with Europcar who use Fox Car Rental at Chicago. I have booked and cancelled the booking twice now because of the rate change and have saved £40 from the original rate. The rental is going to be paid for at time of pick-up and includes an additional driver for free.

Day 1 UK – Chicago O’Hare to Moline, IL

Day 2 Moline, IL – Omaha, NE (state 46)

Day 3 Omaha, NE – Altoona, IA

Day 4 Altoona, IA – Schaumburg, IL

Day 5 Schaumburg, IL

Day 6 Schaumburg – Kenosha, WI

Day 7 Kenosha, WI – Milwaukee, WI

Day 8 Kenosha, WI – Chicago Woodfield Mall

Day 9 Chicago, IL – Fargo, ND (state 47)

Day 10 Fargo, ND – Chicago, IL

Day 11 Chicago, IL – UK

I will be flying between Chicago and Fargo I can take my luggage at a $30 cost per sector but as I am away for 24 hours I can get away with hand luggage only but where to store my case. Through hotels.com I contacted both the hotel I am leaving and the one where I am staying on my return to Chicago and one said they wouldn’t store my bag and the other would but it would be in their office and not a locked area. After some research I came across a site called Bounce and my bag will be fully insured in a UPS store in nearby Elk Grove Village. The only downside is that I have to drop it off for two days because the store isn’t open early enough for me to drop it off on the way to O’Hare. It cost £10.50 including insurance.

To avoid ridiculous rental car charges for passing through tolls there are alternative routes to take but we will confirm the situation at the car rental desk. It seems that if you activate the transponder there is a daily admin fee on top of the toll charge. It isn’t clear if you can pay afterwards on the state toll website in a rental car so there are still questions to get answers to.

Sadly we won’t be near the wonderful Buc’ees in any of the five states that we will be going into but will trip over Iowa 80 Truckstop on I 80 which boasts that it is the largest Truck Stop in the World.

The other detail I can’t get a solution to is that of getting a Sim to work on my phone whilst in the States. I have been close to finding a solution and looked at Talkatone which offer a USA number and can be used via an internet connection VoIP to make and receive calls. I can’t get it to work whilst in the UK so I am going to buy an add-on in any case but overall there seems to be a confusing picture of what is available.

TIP: Don’t forget your Travel Insurance and double check that your ESTA – Electronic System for Travel Authorisation is still in date.